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The Megaric Possibility Paradox

Steinkrüger, Philipp; Duncombe, Matthew

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Authors

Philipp Steinkrüger



Abstract

In Metaphysics Theta 3 Aristotle attributes to the Megarics and unknown others a notorious modal thesis: (M) something can φ only if it is φ-ing. Aristotle does not tell us what motivated (M). Almost all scholars take Aristotle’s report to indicate that the Megarics defended (M) as a highly counterintuitive doctrine in modal metaphysics. But this reading faces several problems. First: what would motivate the Megarics to hold such a counterintuitive view? The existing literature tries, in various ways, to motivate (M) in a way neither trivial nor absurd. But, as we will argue, the main approaches end up attributing an unsustainable position to the Megarics. Second: most historical evidence for the Megaric lineage presents the group’s philosophical practice as dialectical or negative. So why think that the claim reported in Theta 3 presents a positive, and highly controversial, metaphysical claim? This paper addresses these problems by proposing a dialectical (or negative) reading of the Megarics in Theta 3. By ‘dialectical’ we here mean a mode of philosophizing that neither seeks to establish the truth or falsity of certain theses, nor takes a skeptical stance. There are different reasons why a philosopher might want to take up such a mode; in the case of the Megarics we argue that they might have wanted to put pressure on Aristotle’s idea of possibility and the ‘test’ for possibility that Aristotle mentions in several works. Reading, as we do, (M) as (part of) a paradox about possibility and actuality, we argue that the Megarics’ dialectical approach here aims to highlight a shortcoming of an intuitive conception of possibility, which underpins Aristotle’s idea of possibility and which features in his test for possibility.

Citation

Steinkrüger, P., & Duncombe, M. (2024). The Megaric Possibility Paradox. Apeiron, 57(1), 111-137. https://doi.org/10.1515/apeiron-2022-0100

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Dec 15, 2023
Online Publication Date Jan 10, 2024
Publication Date Jan 10, 2024
Deposit Date Dec 18, 2023
Publicly Available Date Dec 18, 2023
Journal Apeiron
Print ISSN 0003-6390
Electronic ISSN 2156-7093
Publisher De Gruyter
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 57
Issue 1
Pages 111-137
DOI https://doi.org/10.1515/apeiron-2022-0100
Keywords Possibility; paradox; Aristotle; Megarics; powers
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/28704485
Publisher URL https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/apeiron-2022-0100/html

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